"The bombs bursting in air..." and in your hands

Can someone explain fireworks to me? I'm not feeling 'em. I'm not talking about the professional productions They put on at the theme parks. Those I can dig. What I don't get are the ones you buy from a tent vendor on the side of the road. Despite it not yet being the Fourth, people are shooting them off like crazy outside, and this is likely to keep up for the next couple of days. I feel like I'm huddled in a house in the middle of a firefight in Sadr City.

Every year 'round this time, you read all the stories about people losing a finger or burning themselves, or a tent spectacularly going up in flames. Let me just step over to the right side of the line a bit and say I'm not necessarily for government regulation of the activity -- I believe natural selection will do its work here. But if you're going to shoot off fireworks in the street between our houses, be sure you clean up all the litter and shells that land in my yard -- like you didn't do one year. Or if you happen to set yourself on fire, please stop, drop and roll in your own driveway.

Current mood: Angry